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Mysterious Ways….

Today the Milk Monkey went to back up daycare. One of the “perks” of Daddy’s job is 20 days of daycare per child. It really comes in handy for those days when all my concentration needs to be on work, or just for general catching up on things. All three of the kids had some days left but the Milk Monkey had most of his because we only just started sending him near the end of the year. So since he’s the one that occupies most of my time during the day we’ve been sending him to back up every day this week. He loves it there and really enjoys playing with his friends, so it’s a win-win situation.

This morning my little guy woke up with a rash on his cheek and his eyes were red. This happens, between the hives, the runny noses and the rashes we’re pretty use to it now. I gave him his dose of Children’s Claritin, something the allergist wants us to do until our next visit in January and sent him on his way. Sure enough, mid afternoon I got a call saying the Monkey needed to be picked up because he has a rash. I have no idea why they waited until afternoon, maybe because it looked worse after waking from his nap, probably because the Claritin was wearing off. I don’t know. I tried to explain his skin sensitivities and the rashes and hives but they still wanted him picked up. They said the only things he ate that was different was rice and black eyed peas. The allergist has determined the triggers are not food related. A few minutes later they called back and informed me he needed to see a doctor before he would be allowed to go back. The second call made me feel like they think I’m a bad mother – like I made light of a critical situation.

We’ve been dealing with this for a while now. We’ve seen our sweet little baby covered head to toe in hives, we’ve slathered his little diaper parts in various creams to try and get rid of rashes that won’t disappear, we were the ones who comforted him when he got pneumonia from the constant nasal drip when the doctors kept telling us it was just a cold. That is why I didn’t freak out about the rash on his face. I understand they don’t know all this and they’re just looking out for his best interest, which I appreciate. It’s just that even though he is the third child in our family, I still second guess most decisions I make, especially in the areas where I don’t have any expertise like medicine. I don’t want to be the hypochondriac mother but at the same time, I don’t want to ignore his needs. It’s always a fine line.

Nevertheless, Daddy took him to the doctors to see what was up. The doctor agreed it’s just a rash because of his sensitivity. As he was checking him out he found that the little Monkey has a small ear infection so he prescribed some antibiotics for that. I guess the rash was a blessing in disguise. He hasn’t had a fever and he hasn’t been pulling at his ears, so there was no way anyone could know.

I’m thankful for the way the day turned out even if it was frustrating and my motherly pride took a hit. The thought that my little Monkey could be in pain without us knowing is just too sad. I’m thankful for the daycare women who insisted we take our little guy to the doctors, even if it wasn’t for the reason they thought. I’d like to think I would have caught on to the ear infection if he had been around me all day but I probably wouldn’t have unless he was showing more signs.

When I think of the saying that God works in mysterious ways, I think of situations like this. I don’t believe he brings sickness to His children, but I do believe He can use a situation to whisper in someones ear to help us when we need it.

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3 thoughts on “Mysterious Ways….”

I had the same thing happen when one of my kids had a double ear infection as a baby, and no one knew it! The doctor picked it up during a routine well visit, and he said the baby’s ears were beet red inside! He wasn’t even crying or pulling at them, so how would we know?! I wonder if the day care people are aware that the Monkey came home from there with a case of the croup last week? Jus’ sayin’

We’ve been having a similar situation with our 6 year old. He had a virus at the beginning of November 2012. The next day we noticed what looked like hives on his legs. I took him in to our pediatrician & he said it was “just a virus” & sometimes children can get hives from certain viruses. We were told to give him Benadryl & that they should go away in a few weeks. Towards the end of the month, his cough had still not gone away & one day he began complaining of chest pain. But he didn’t have any fever. (He also kept having hives every other day since the last Dr.s visit.) I called them back but was told to keep giving Benadryl for them. I took him to a different Dr. At a “quick care service” & they did an X-ray on his chest. He had pneumonia. They gave us steroids & an antibiotic & told to give him Zyrtec everyday. This seemed to clear the pneumonia up…….for awhile, but a few times I forgot to give him the Zyrtec & the next morning he would wake up with hives again & a swollen, puffy, red face. (This Dr. also said the virus could’ve caused his hives, but he also asked if there had been any change in his diet or laundry detergent…etc. I HAVE changed detergent, but have since changed back to the old one. And we haven’t noticed any one particular thing he’s eaten that would cause the hives. We’re still battling them now!) Now, almost one month later, he started coughing again & complaining of chest pains. I took him back to the same “quick care service” & they did another X-ray. Again, he has pneumonia. They gave him a shot, plus more steroids & a stronger antibiotic. They didn’t seem to have an answer for the hives, though. I have an appointment with a pediatric allergist in January, so we’re hoping he can help us figure out what is causing his hives. I’ve been online researching pneumonia + hives & your blog came up! I was saddened about your little one’s illness, but thankful to find someone else who is having the same problem. Please keep posting & let us know what/if you find out anything else & I’ll do the same. In the meantime, I’ll be praying for your family!

Urgh! It sounds like you’ve been dealing with the same frustrations we have. I’m sorry to hear about your little guy’s issues. We were also told it could be a virus. I wish we had more information to share with you but we really don’t. We’ve been to the allergist and in our case she didn’t have much more information other than our little Monkey probably has very sensitive skin and probably produces an excess of histamine. We have another appointment in January to follow up. The allergist tested for various allergens but only at very low levels because he’s so little and not a full panel for the same reason. One thing she did mention was that if he did get pneumonia again she wanted us to contact her right away. I can’t remember specifically what the issue was but it had to do with the nasal cavity. I’m not sure if that helps you at all. I’d really appreciate any info you might find and we’ll definitely get back to you with any info we come across. Thank you for your prayers…they’re very much appreciated. We’ll be praying for you and your little man too!